Our 8 Favorite Movie Twins & One Pair We Hate

Published 4 years ago
by
Mike Eisenberg
, Updated February 7th, 2011 at 6:59 pm,

Alice in Wonderland – Tweedledee & Tweedledum

The famous twins of the Alice in Wonderland books made their way on the silver screen twice. The first appearance in the 1951 adaptation was brief, but memorable enough. In Tim Burton’s 2010 3D interpretation of the tale, Tweedledee and Tweedledum make yet another memorable, yet brief, appearance.

The latest adaptation uses computer technology to superimpose actor Matt Lucas’ face on both characters. Similar to other movie twins previously mentioned, technology has given the filmmakers an opportunity to pick any actor and digitally create a twin.

Tweedledee and Tweedledum remind me of a fairy tale version of The Three Stooges. Their clumsy nature is only compounded by the elements of their personalities. The playful duo stop Alice in the 1951 film, asking to play a game with her. When she refuses, the two share a story called The Walrus and The Carpenter. Of course, this story only makes the pair more eager to play with the strange girl. As she sneaks away during their constant bickering, the two foolish twins add to their infamous reputation as bufoons.

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Twins – Julius & Vincent

Failed genetic experiments tend to be put on display in monster movies or horror films. In Twins, we catch up to a pair of fraternal twins that look absolutely nothing alike to an extent that is freakish. That’s right, Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger play fraternal twins.

Schwarzenegger’s Julius was raised to be the perfect human being (by some standards) – a brilliant scientist with a good heart and a strong body. On the other hand, DeVito’s Vincent was raised in an orphanage run by nuns, leading to the scumbag attitude of a street thug. When both of these worlds collide, it is a layered comedy of laughs and personality clashes.

The plot is funny, but it is other moments of the film that are truly memorable. Specifically, it is the sequence where Schwarzenegger and DeVito – two completely mismatched actors – buy matching suits that has become a staple of late 80s comedy.

Not your typical movie twins, Schwarzenegger and DeVito give Twins the attitude of a parody on so many levels. Just watch the other movies on this list and it will make your experience with Twins that much better.

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Transformers 2 – Skids & Mudflap (HATED THEM!)

We’ve reached the pair of twins we hate. There are few movie fans out there who actually enjoyed the presence of Skids and Mudflap, the Twins in Transformers 2. This has nothing to do with Michael Bay, the Transformers franchise, or even the concept of robots in disguise. Rather, it’s the simple addition of a pair of robots whose morals are questionable (do robots have morals?) and ethics are unsound.

The purpose of the Twins was clear – to add comedic relief to an action film. The problem is, the first Transformers was fine without them – itwas always entertaining and funny when it needed to be. Transformers 2 just tried way too hard.

The attitude of twins is showcased by the way they act onscreen. They are a bumbling pair, similar to the previous Tweedledee and Tweedledum. The back-and-forth comedy is quick and witty, but lacks any kind of punch. The Twins suffer from a lack of purpose and make the audience cringe with their worthlessness. Every line uttered is a waste of time and actually bogs down the entire film.

SPOILER ALERT!

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The Prestige – Alfred Borden & Fallon

Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige is a film all about misdirection. But the greatest trick of all is its ability to put the big secret right in front of your eyes the entire time. Like many of the other twins on this list, the pair in The Prestige are portrayed by one actor – Christian Bale. While you don’t find out until the final moments of the film, Alfred Borden and Fallon are identical twins.

Throughout the film, Fallon is portrayed as Borden’s mysterious assistant. But thanks to Nolan’s structure, Fallon’s identity becomes an afterthought, leaving first-time viewers unaware until the end that the film’s true tricks are in the deception from Borden and Fallon. It is truly one of the most cerebral ways to put twins onscreen.

The moment when Borden reveals that he and Fallon have been trading identities by simply swapping costumes and facial hair, my hair stood on end and my butt scooched to the front of my seat. The reveal is brief, but changes your entire perception of the film. If you know any real-life twins, they’ve probably played a prank on you by swapping identities at some point. This hilarious prank is turned into a dark and beautiful illusion for The Prestige.

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What do you think of our favorite movie twins? Do you have some favorites that went unmentioned? Just do us a favor and leave the Olsen twins out of it.

64 Comments

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Stevie 3 years ago

I strongly disagree with the one hate, skids and mudflap. I was shocked to find out that “aduiences cringed at their worthlessness”. I was obveosly watching a different movie and was surrounded by marshans because when I went to see transformers 2 I loved their part and the people around me laughed at their jokes just as much as I did. I was terrebly sad with their absence in the third instalment of transformers.

I strongly disagree with the one hate, skids and mudflap. I was shocked to find out that “aduiences cringed at their worthlessness”. I was obveosly watching a different movie because when I went to see transformers 2 I loved their part and the people around me laughed at their jokes just as much as I did. I was terrebly sad with their absence in the third instalment of transformers.

10 years ago we saw a movie set in the future about a bad guy trying to take over the world. He had a counter good guy and at the end of the movie when the bad guy was massing his armies to conquer the world we found out that the good guy was his twin brother.

Do you have any idea what the movie might have been. We don’t remember.